LESS than 24 hours after a European Commission report criticised Bulgaria for its failure to effectively combat organised crime and high-profile murders, another high-profile murder happened in Sofia.

The murder happened while Interior Minister Roumen Petkov was giving a news conference in response to the report's criticism.

This time the victim was not a criminal figure with a nickname, but a man who was, according to Polish magazine Wprost, the second-richest in Bulgaria: 48-year-old banker Emil Kyulev, owner of DZI Bank.

He was shot in his silver BMW X5 while being driven to work on the morning of October 26.

According to police, Kyulev was shot more than 10 times in the head and upper body and died instantly.

His driver was taken to Pirogov emergency hospital with several wounds to the chest and the stomach.

In a media statement, DZI Financial Group said that Kyulev's murder was not an ordinary crime. "This murder constitutes aggression against the Bulgarian state and its European future," the statement said.

Interior Minister Petkov, who was asked by parties in Parliament to brief them on the incident, afterward said he was "seriously shocked" by the murder.

According to Petkov, the murder of Kyulev was not a part of the gangster wars, because Kyulev was "a man with serious business and public presence".

Many people, however, associate Kyulev with Russian business interests and the former Communist-era State Security.

Petkov said that Kyulev's murder was aimed at destabilising Bulgaria and stopping its progress towards the EU.

Petkov vowed to take serious measures to curb organised crime by all necessary means. This would be a permanent process, he said.

Prosecutor-General Nikola Filchev said that Kyulev's murder was politically motivated.

"If his business is clean, we can dismiss the usual explanations of narcotics, contraband or human trafficking," he said.

According to Filchev, police were working on four possible theories - one political and the other three connected with Kyulev's business interests.

Meanwhile, a month after the resignation of Boiko Borissov as Interior Ministry chief secretary, five more high-ranking ministry officials have tabled their resignations.

Krassimir Mladenov, deputy head of the National Service for Combating Organised Crime (NSCOC), in charge of corruption; Ivan Yovchev, deputy head of the NSCOC; Ivan Tsvetkov, head of the narcotics department in the service; Boril Katsarov, head of the terrorism department; and an expert on contract murders, Botyo Botev, resigned on October 20.

Interior Minister Roumen Petkov denied reports that they were forced to leave and said that they had done so of their own volition.

However, according to statements by some of those who resigned, the new Interior Ministry chief secretary Ilia Iliev had hinted that they were not wanted in the ministry.

"We disagree with the way of work and the way in which the goals of the NSCOC will be attained," Mladenov told Bulgarian news agency BTA.

The officers said the reason for their decision was their disagreement with the forthcoming structural changes in which the NSCOC would be transformed into a general service and transferred for management to the General Police Directorate.

"As to the management, we realised it is better to resign and let the new chiefs work with the people they want," Mladenov said.

"I did not press any of the five officers to resign," NSCOC head Vanyo Tanov said.

He said he could not make an assessment of the five officers' performances since he had been appointed to the NSCOC only recently.

The following day, Petkov said that he did not think that the resignations of the five dissenting officers would hinder the performance of the NSCOC.

"On the contrary, I believe that the service will work diligently and efficiently," he said.

Former Interior Ministry chief secretary Borissov said that there was no point in talking about continuity, as it was obvious that certain people would resign with the change of the government.

Borissov said he agreed with the opinion that the five were leaving because of pressure and appealed to former prime minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg to intervene in the case.

Meanwhile, Petkov appointed Donka Georgieva as deputy head of the NSCOC in charge of economy, contraband and financial crimes and will put Valentin Nikolov, former head of the corruption department of NSCOC, in charge of terrorism and narcotics.